Stadium to be named after ex-Gunner

Utrera has approved plans to rename its municipal stadium after former Arsenal forward José Antonio Reyes, seven years after his death in a traffic accident.

Jose Antonio Reyes of Arsenal in action during the Barclays Premiership match between Arsenal and Middlesbrough at Highbury on January 14, 2006 in London, England. — Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Utrera is to rename its main municipal stadium after former Arsenal forward José Antonio Reyes, seven years after his death in a traffic accident.

The plenary session of Seville City Council unanimously approved the decision to rename the current Municipal Stadium of Vistalegre as the José Antonio Reyes Calderón Municipal Stadium, ensuring the former player’s name remains permanently attached to the town where he was born.

The measure was approved during the ordinary session for April and will also involve updating the municipal inventory, as well as installing an identification plaque at the stadium.

The local authority also plans to hold a tribute in memory of Reyes, with relatives and people close to the former footballer expected to attend.

Utrera pays tribute to José Antonio Reyes The former green midfielder, who died in a traffic accident in 2019, will give his name to the Vistalegre Municipal Stadium in the town José Antonio Reyes kisses the shield of Córdoba CF during his presentation with the club at the Arcángel, in 2018. Diario Cordoba M.H. Córdoba 9 May 2026 The figure of José Antonio Reyes will remain forever linked to Utrera. The Plenary session of the Seville City Council unanimously approved that the current Municipal Stadium of Vistalegre in the city be officially renamed the José Antonio Reyes Calderón Municipal Stadium, in memory of the former Córdoba CF footballer - among many other clubs - who died in 2019 in a traffic accident. The measure went ahead during the ordinary session corresponding to the month of April and will mean that the Utrera attacker's name will be permanently associated with the main sports venue in the town that saw him born. The agreement also contemplates the updating of the denomination in the municipal inventory and the installation of an identification plate in the stadium. In addition to the name change A.J. González in the enclosure, the local consistory plans to organize an institutional act of tribute in memory of the footballer, with the presence of relatives and people close to Reyes. The former Sevillian player left an extensive career in professional football, with a stint at some of the most important clubs on the national and international scene. Trained at Sevilla's youth academy, he spent two spells at the team from Seville, where he won a Copa del Rey and three Europa League titles. He also defended the shirts of Arsenal, Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Benfica, Espanyol and Extremadura - his last club -, among other teams. Córdoba CF also appeared on that tour, which they reached in the winter market of the 2017-2018 season, in one of the most memorable campaigns of the recent Blanquiverde stage. Then, at the age of 34 and after remaining without a team during the first half of the course, Reyes landed at the Archangel to reinforce a team immersed in the full fight for permanence. With the Cordoba shirt, the one known as The Magician of Utrera played 17 official matches, ten of them as a starter, and scored a goal in that second round marked by the reaction of the Caliphate team - championed by the winter additions, above all - and the subsequent agonizing salvation achieved under the direction of the Madrid coach José Ramón Sandoval. — M.H. Córdoba 9 May 2026

For Arsenal, Reyes remains an important part of the club’s modern history. He joined from Sevilla, where he had come through the academy, and was part of the Invincibles squad that won the Premier League unbeaten in 2003/04. He also won the FA Cup.

His wider career took in some of the biggest clubs in Spain and Europe, including Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Benfica, Espanyol, Extremadura and Córdoba CF.

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